Jubilee Arts Festival

I had the honor of performing at the Jubilee Arts Festival, a two-day event held at the Pasadena Convention Center. The festival is an international program that showcases the diversity and talent of the world’s Ismaili Muslim community.

The festival celebrates a variety of talent in dance, filmmaking, literary arts, musical performance, visual arts, poetry, graphic design, and more. Festival attendees can meet and learn from each other at workshops and other interactive events. 

At the festival, I performed my original song “Sailing the Sahara,” which is about the beauty of unity through diversity. Sue Arunasalam, who, coincidentally, is one of the earliest members of my favorite gamelan group, Rhythm in Bronze, joined me on my custom-made chromatic gamelan saron; also joining us was Danny Shamoun on the nay (Arabic flute).

On stage, I wore a songket, which is something I often do when I perform live. A songket is a beautifully decorated, shuttle-woven fabric that’s a member of the brocade line indigenous to countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and India. Each country has a distinctive style. The festival provided a large screen for translations, which came in handy since my song’s lyrics are half Malay and half English.

As a performer, I enjoy watching other artists warm-up before a performance, and there were plenty of musicians and dancers at the festival for me to observe. I especially loved listening to a group of Indian musicians with traditional instruments such as a sarod (lute), tabla (Indian drum), and harmonium (pump organ) jamming backstage before their performance.

A group of older Indian women performed an incredible dance. They wore traditional Indian attire and carefully danced while balancing Indian pots on their heads. The performers wore such beautiful clothing. It was a feast for my eyes.

As for the exhibitions, I especially liked the visual arts offerings and particularly liked a giant collage made up of photos of performers from past Jubilee Arts events. There were also many paintings and sculptures, and even innovative artwork created by children. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to see any of the films.

It was a truly magical day. It was a privilege to perform at such a grand, inclusive festival. I appreciated the opportunity to share my music with the Ismaili community. My song’s message was very well received, and several members of the audience approached me after my performance to express how much they loved my message of unity through diversity and how my music incorporated both modern and traditional elements.

All the hard work by the festival committee and volunteers certainly paid off. The festival was a huge success and an important part of retaining the Ismaili tradition.